TD Securities Upgrades Metro (TSE:MRU) to Buy

TD Securities upgraded shares of Metro (TSE:MRU) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have C$92.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of C$80.00.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Metro from C$76.00 to C$77.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. National Bankshares increased their target price on Metro from C$80.00 to C$82.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Metro from C$74.50 to C$74.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Metro from C$82.00 to C$84.00 in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Desjardins raised their price target on shares of Metro from C$74.00 to C$75.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Metro presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of C$79.86.

Metro Stock Performance

Shares of MRU opened at C$82.32 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of C$18.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of C$76.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$73.13. Metro has a one year low of C$65.43 and a one year high of C$83.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 64.39, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported C$0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.91. Metro had a net margin of 4.64% and a return on equity of 14.55%. The firm had revenue of C$4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$4.63 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Metro will post 4.2740275 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Metro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were given a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. Metro’s payout ratio is 31.38%.

About Metro

Metro Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer, franchisor, distributor, and manufacturer in the food and pharmaceutical sectors in Canada. The company operates supermarkets, discount, neighborhood, and specialty stores that provide fresh and grocery products, baked goods, prepared food products, meats, dairy products, fruits and vegetables, frozen food products, bakery products, delicatessen items, and pastries.